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GRASP University of Pennsylvania NRL logo? Future Combat Systems Creation of a network-centric force of heterogeneous platforms that is strategically responsive and sustainable l Adapt to variations in communication performance and strive to maximize suitably defined network-centric measures for perception, control and communication l Provide situational awareness for remotely- located war fighters in a wide range of conditions l Integrate heterogeneous air-ground assets in support of continuous operations over varying terrain

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GRASP University of Pennsylvania NRL logo? Research Thrusts 1.Localization and Control for the Team of Robots 2. Communication Sensitive Mission Planning 3. Communication Sensitive Reactive Behaviors 4. Verification and Validation

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GRASP University of Pennsylvania NRL logo? 1. Localization, Tracking and Control for a (small) Network of Robots Decentralized l Each robot computes the others position relative to its reference frame l Each robot shares information with the rest of the team Assumptions l Noise can be modeled by normal distribution l No dynamics l Ad-hoc network l Robots are easily identified

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GRASP University of Pennsylvania NRL logo? 2. Communication Sensitive Planning l Provide support for terrain models and other communications relevant topographic features to MissionLab l Use plans-as-resources as a basis for multiagent robotic communication control (spatial, behavioral, formations, etc.) and integrate within MissionLab

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GRASP University of Pennsylvania NRL logo? Preliminary Results: Communication Planning l Additional resources in the form of internalized plans aids team communication. l No difference results when using reactive behaviors vs. communication insensitive plans. l Communication planning in serial and parallel result in significant improvement in communication.

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GRASP University of Pennsylvania NRL logo? Simulation Six robots maintaining communication constraints and avoiding each other

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GRASP University of Pennsylvania NRL logo? Communication Sensitive Behaviors: Preliminary Results Using the Nearest Neighbor Recovery behavior approximately 50% of the trials were finished completely autonomously Retrotraverse and Move to Higher Ground were usually not able to finish the trials autonomously by themselves and will require transitions/planning once communications recovered

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GRASP University of Pennsylvania NRL logo? Conclusion l A comprehensive model and framework integrating communications, perception, and execution l Automated acquisition of perceptual information for situational awareness l Reactive group behaviors for a team of air and ground based robots that are communications sensitive